DETROIT — Jose Abreu is not feeling comfortable in Detroit, but it’s got nothing to do with a strained right groin, or a left hip flexor as it was initially announced.

“This is not something that I like,” Abreu said through team interpreter Billy Russo. “Being here doing nothing. But that was Ricky's decision. I know that he's trying to take care of me. But I feel good. I hope just to be in the lineup tomorrow.”

Both Abreu and manager Rick Renteria share the same opinion that the injury is not as bad as it looked when the big first baseman slipped, and his legs slid against his will into an uncomfortable-looking split before he doubled over in a heap. But Abreu had that opinion pretty much 30 seconds after it happened, when his manager had to grab him around the waist and physically pull him out Wednesday’s 5-2 victory over the Royals.

“He did not want to come out,” Renteria said after game while chuckling. “He was pretty adamant but I think all of us, you don't take any chances. I think it was just the right thing to do at that time.”

“This is very weird when you are playing without pain or sore,” Abreu said. “You get used to it. When you are on the field, you didn’t want to leave the field. It doesn’t matter what’s the reason or what’s happening.”

A disabled list trip is said to be off the table at the moment, and Renteria even left the door open for a pinch-hit appearance on Friday, a possibility on which Abreu is very opinionated.

Getting an answer from Abreu about a single game, a single at-bat, or even the past week can be a little tricky. He’s an extreme-longview type, who analyzes his game based on his approach, and how he sees the ball and how he feels about his swing, which makes it especially complicated to get an idea of how he feels right now.

After looking like the old lion again at the end of spring, the man who once hit 29 home runs before the 2014 All-Star break is homer-less and sore going into the last series of April. But in the larger scheme of whether Abreu feels right again, the pair of doubles he hit on Wednesday, or the hits he's had in the last week, are fairly meaningless.

“I don’t feel comfortable because I have a good game or so,” Abreu said. “I always want more. I’m working for the results and it’s a process. The results are getting better than probably a week ago. But I’m working hard and working hard to have my offense where I want it to be.”

Abreu’s only had one month before in his career without a homer, and just one month with an ISO below .100. His five extra-base hits in April would also be a career-low for any month in his major league tenure. He’s 30 years old and has seen declining performance in each of the last two years, but other than his spring acknowledgement that he spent some offseason time discussing his struggles with his family, he dismisses all concerns. Talking to him, the fix always is already in motion, put in place weeks ago, and the only thing that could hold him back or trouble him is getting held out of the lineup.

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James Fegan is the lead writer on the White Sox for The Athletic Chicago. Previously, James founded and served as Editor-in-Chief of BP South Side, and his work has appeared in Baseball Prospectus, ESPN SweetSpot, The Rock River Times and Athlete's Quarterly. Follow James on Twitter @JRFegan.